Rise Against, Death Grips and Japandroids also confirmed for Orion Festival

Metallica have confirmed that Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foals and Deftones are among the first names on the line up for this year’s installment of the band’s Orion Festival.

Celebrating its second year, Orion Festival will see Metallica headline one-night of the two day event with Red Hot Chili Peppers performing on the other night. Taking place between June 8-9 at Detroit’s Belle Isle, the festival will also see appearances from Japandroids, Death Grips, Rise Against, Dropkick Murphys, The Joy Formidable and The Bronx. Scroll down to see a full list of the artists appearing at the event.

Speaking to Rolling Stone about the festival, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said: “Our idea was to bring North America the kind of festival experience you get in Europe, which is all about diversity and new experiences,” Ulrich says. “When we first proposed this, people were like, ‘Why isn’t Metallica doing a metal fest?’ That surprised me; we weren’t interested in doing that. Admittedly, a lot of things we put together could’ve been weird, but we were stunned how people really vibed on it.”

The festival will also show its dedication to variety by introducing a new dance tent, headlined by Bassnectar and also featuring performances from Dillon Francis and Borgore. “For that, we have to blame our kids,” says Ulrich. “Hetfield and I went with our kids to watch Skrillex at a festival we were both playing, and we were blown away by his presentation – he had 25,000 kids going insane. We thought, ‘We’ve got to get that!’ A lot of those guys come from a background in heavy music, and you can hear it – Bassnectar is a huge metal fan. A lot of the rock fans might be sceptical, but when they see it’s about energy and unison, they’ll relate to it.”